Tropical Paradise - 9th - 18th Jan 07

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With 'why does it always rain on me?' running firmly through my mind, I tried to ignore the pounding rain upon arrival at Rarotonga at 4am, telling myself it will have cleared up by the morning. My spirits were lifted when I entered the arrivals hall (well small room which also served as immigration, departures, duty free shopping and anything else you'd need at an airport!) and was greeted by a man singing tradtional island music and playing a ukelele - at 4am!!!! Loa Angeles could certainly learn some lessons here!
I'd had a bit of a nightmare organising some accommodation as everywhere was really busy, but had managed to get a bed in the Tiare Village, which promised to be a clean, friendly, hostel environment, only a short walk from the beach - ideal! Unfortunately, websites can be extremely deceiving and my heart fell when I realised that I was staying at the Bates Motel, complete with itchy beds, holey mosquito nets, 1950's decor with completed jigsaws (!) on the wall, no other guests to speak of, or to for that matter, and the 'short walk' to the beach turned out to be 2.5km! I had a very restless nights sleep plotting how to get the hell out of there the next day, punctuated every now and then by the roaring sound of a landing aircraft - oh yeah, this place was also located pretty much at the end of the runway!
I awoke the next morning hoping it had all been a bad dream, or at least some other people had arrived, but no such luck and it was still hammering it down outside and I was set to be on my ownsome in this place. No thanks! So, off I went into town to the very helpful tourism office, who managed to find me a bed in a very popular backpackers place on the other side of the island - result!
I did feel bad about letting the owner of the Tiare Village down by not honouring my booking, but reminded myself that she should have been more honest on her website, and headed back to collect my stuff and explain my early departure to her. Sadly (or luckily in hindsight!) she wasn't there, and I couldn't have waited as I would have lost the new bed, so I left her the money I owed her (and a bit more) and a note explaining I was leaving, but not saying where I was going to, and headed over to Varas. Well, it seems that leaving was the right thing to do as Adrienne, the owner of Tiare Village, turned out to be a complete nutter - a reputation she has around the island I soon discovered, and somehow she managed to track me down, hurling insults down the phone at me and sending abusive e-mails! Hmmm, so it's all my fault that you lied on your website and nobody ever wants to stay at your place is it?!!!!
Anyway, rant over, I tried to put all things Tiare to the back of my mind and concentrate on enjoying my last 10 days at Varas. This place was much more like it - airy, spacious rooms and comfy beds with huge patio doors opening out onto a wooden verandah, set on stilts over the stunning Muri Beach and turquoise lagoon. There were also other people staying here (yay!) and they were a wicked lot, including one guy from Salcombe (amazing!) and another who was off to live in Cape Town (lucky git!) and new friendships were soon forged, with many nights out to follow at various restaurants and bars across the island.
One particularly good night was spent at the infamous Banana Court, apparently a world renowned nightspot in its heyday, as it was always the sailors' first port of call for some fun and frolics when in the South Pacific. About 30 of us crammed into the back of a mini bus with the other 15 in the back of a pick up truck - part of the service at Varas is a 'taxi driver' who phones at 6pm every day to see if anyone needs a lift anywhere - and made for town. The atmosphere in the club was great - a nice mix of travellers and locals - and I got to know my fellow roommates at Varas a lot better with a round of one of their favourite games 'pass the ice cube'!
So, my nights were fairly busy, and a lot of my days were taken up by the PADI open water scuba diving course I'd decided to do, having got the diving bug from the Great Barrier Reef. The course was great and I loved every minute of it, even the theory and exams - how sad am I?! but it was nice to get the old brain ticking over again! However, I don't think this was the case for the other 2 people on the course, a couple from Devon, who really didn't seem to want to be there! She, in particular, seemed to be hating every minute of it, especially when we had to practice skills such as taking your mask off underwater and changing air supplies etc in the pool - she would just freak out and bolt for the surface - not something you'd want to do in the open water! Being such a water baby, I was right at home though, and didn't mind too much that her antics were holding us up as it meant more time chilling in the water for me!
After 2 full days of theory and practice in the swimming pool it was time to head out to the open water for our first 2 of 4 dives. I was so excited, but again, not so for my compadres, who both get sea sick and spent the 3 (3!) minute journey to the dive sight yakking over the side of the boat - so um, why are you doing this course again?!
We did 2 great dives, although the conditions weren't quite as good as they could have been - visibility was only 15 metres instead of the usual 25! Didn't make much of a difference to me though - I had a great time checking out all of the wildlife down there. There was an abundance of tropical fish, including Tommy the very friendly and enormous Blue Trigger Fish, who has been showing the divers around for the past 18 years and was amazing to watch! We also saw some Ghost Coral which changes colour when you touch it, and Christmas Tree Worms, which is a type of coral that when you click your fingers over it, small yellow tenticles emerge from the rock looking for food - awesome!
Due to the recent storm, it was pretty surgey down there, meaning you get pushed around by the current quite a lot. I found it really good fun - almost like being in a hammock, swinging backwards and forwards in the water - but it made doing our skills on the seabed quite tough as you couldn't stay in one place. We were all grabbing onto rocks to stop being swept away in the surge whilst each of us performed our skills for the instructor.
The final 2 dives were equally as exciting and awe-inspiring as the first 2 and Tommy came along for the ride again! I was well chuffed by the end of the course to be a certified open water diver, but also gutted as it meant no more dives!
Well and truly bitten by the diving bug, I treated myself to 2 more dives before I left and Rachael, one of the girls from Varas came along too. We dived 2 great sights - The Boneyard and The Matarora Shipwreck. Again we saw some amazing wildlife including 2 beautiful Lion Fish and a wicked looking Pineapple Sea Cucumber, apparently called Steve, who suckered himself to our arms and who Jason, our divemaster, used as a smiley face and a mohican haircut. This is when I realised it's surprisingly easy to laugh underwater! It was also very surgey again and at one point I got caught in the current and pushed into the side of the wreck. It was really good fun though - a bit like being on an underwater rollercoaster! In case you can't tell, I loved all aspects of the diving and was very tempted when Jason suggested I stayed in Rarotonga and trained to be a divemaster at their dive centre, but the wonderful world of insurance was calling me back! I can't wait to dive again though, and all sorts of holiday ideas are now running through my head!
When I wasn't busy underwater I split the rest of my time between cultivating the perfect tan so it actually looked like I have been away for a year (I lost any colour I did have in New Zealand) and exploring the island. Rach and I hired bikes one of the days and cycled the 32km around the island. It was a great way to see the sights, do some exercise and get a tan at the same time! It only took a couple of hours too, to our surprise, although there are no hills at all on the road circling the island so that made it easier!
A group of us girls also went to a traditional island night at a local schmancy resort which was great. We were treated to traditional singing and dancing, and it's all so happy and carefree it can't fail to put you in a good mood! We all commented on how great it was that the men will happily jump around, but somehow don't lose their masculinity - not the way it would be in England!
There were definitely mixed feelings when it came time to go home. Naturally, I was very excited to see my family and friends again and have a few creature comforts, but I'd made some great friends in Rarotonga and was very relucatant to leave such a beautiful place. All in all, it was the ideal way to end what has been an amazing year.
Kia Manuia

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Photos

Not your usual welcome
Arriving at the airport

That's more like it
Vara's balcony from the water

A night out in Banana Court
L-R: Judy, Sarah, Niels, Kirsten, Me, Dan, Kate and Dave

Outside Banana Court
L-R: Kate, Judy, Kara, Kirsten, Ellie, Niels and Me

Yet another amazing sunset
On the balcony at the Rarontongan

Stunning
The view of the lagoon from our room

Next to a traditional carving on island night
L-R: Rachael, Helen, Kayleigh, Me and Karina